The Curse
by RikaToruh
Summary: Sokka doesn’t want to hurt Toph anymore, and maybe that’ll cause him to hurt both of them in the process.


The Curse

The Curse

Sokka doesn't want to hurt Toph anymore, and maybe that'll cause him to hurt both of them in the process.

Sokka carried Toph to the fountain at the center of the Western Air Temple's courtyard. After they'd both settled down, Sokka felt the need to make a confession.

"Toph. It's my fault your feet got burned…"

Toph was taken aback. There was no way she'd let Sokka get away with saying that. She wasn't some pansy who needed Sokka to make up excuses for her mistakes. "What? No it isn't. What goes on in your brain, snoozles? It's not like you forced me to go see Zuko, I just did it."

"No, it is my fault. I have some sort of curse. Any girl I….I…"

_Any girl I fall for…_ Sokka thought to himself. _But I can't tell her that…_

Toph waited patiently for an answer, consumed by her own thoughts. _He isn't going to say any girl he…__loves__? Right? Or is he… Maybe now's the right time to-_

Sokka finally grasped the "correct" words. "Any girl I become friends with has something awful happen to her. Yue became a spirit. Suki might be dead and you got your feet burned. I'm a failure at..." _Relationships... _That thought had returned. Sokka pushed it out of his mind. "I'm a failure at friendships with girls."

The pair sat in silence for a few moments before Toph said "Sokka, what the heck is wrong with you? Curse? Come on. My feet are my own problem and besides…" Toph wasn't sure what to say now. Her mind was swimming in thoughts. _The "friendships" that he had with Suki and Yue were more romantic …so why is he comparing them to me? He doesn't- No. …He's 15 and I'm 12. There's no way our feelings are the same._

"…Suki's gotta be alive. She's a fighter and there's absolutely no way that what Azula said was true." Toph was lying about Azula. She knew she was lying, but there was absolutely no way that she could tell Sokka the truth or how she feels, not now, or ever, especially if she was going to help him get this Curse nonsense out of his system.

"Really?" Sokka said. He stood up. "Thanks Toph. You're a pretty cool kid."

As he was leaving the room, Toph's quiet reply came. "No problem. Anytime."

Toph was getting one of those awful welling, sappy bumps in her throat and in a pathetic attempt to coax it away she whispered thoughts of denial to herself.

"See, Toph?" She choked out. "Sokka doesn't think of you as anything more than a "great kid". He cares about Suki. He knows his own emotions, and so do you. You don't feel anything for Sokka. You don't!"

_I care about Suki. Don't I? _Sokka was on his back, staring at the sky. _I know what I feel. Right? Toph is just a kid. Just a kid. And I'm…a man. I can't feel anything for Toph. _

"I mean, really Toph. Sokka is a lame, voice cracking, meat obsessed sexist jerk. How could you consider for a moment to like him...at all? Although he is really nice, and of course, when he…NO TOPH! You DON'T have any romantic feelings for Sokka! At all. NONE."

What would ever possess me to feel that way about Toph? Nothing…She's demanding, kind of crazy, loud and has some violence issues. Plus she's just a little kid. What good qualities are there? None...right? I mean, she's really beautiful, especially when we first saw her at the Bei Fong estate and she was wearing that dress. Wait, did I really just think that? No. I didn't. Suki's the beautiful one and she wears a dress all the time. That makes her better. Uhuh. It does.

"I don't love Sokka, even a little."

_I don't love Toph, I've got Suki_.

A/N: Denial is a wonderful thing, isn't it? I absolutely ship Tokka! 100! I'll probably cry my eyes out if Sokka ends up with Suki and I absolutely hated having Sokka think that Suki was better for him than Toph, but it just made this one-shot that more amazing. I also hated listed the negatives about each character. I just love them both soo much. I must say though it was a lot easier for Sokka than it was for Toph. Poor Sokka. Sukka for absolutely never.

Reviews are very, very appreciated. –Mandi Toruh


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